Fibreglass for bulwarks?

[DavidSaunders]

What is the best way to build on fibreglass bulwarks?
The new to me Classic 37 currently has a teak toerail that has done a tremendous job of holding water on deck for a very long time. As a result of that, and a few other poor design and build decisions by previous owners, the decks are saturated in many spots. That's just background...I'll sort it later.

Ideally I'd like to build bulwarks that are 4-6" high, with plenty of drainage holes or a long gap at deck level. I will also be glassing in the hull/deck joint with epoxy from the outside, and when it is dry, glassing the inside of the hull/deck joint too.

My intention is to do some ocean voyaging and having the whole works water tight and very strong is the plan. I am currently rebedding and replacing deck hardware, and the stanchions are also on the list for rebedding.

I will be starting with an essentially bare hull/deck joint so ideas for making the stanchions stronger are also welcome. I'm also open to hearing if you think you've got a better idea than fibreglass but the qualification to that is that I won't be using the commonly available aluminum toerail, and although I am a carpenter and woodworker I don't want to have to do a lot of refinishing of wood around stanchions, etc.. suggestions of a material other than wood?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience.

David

[rbk]

There is a synthetic teak that actually looks like teak (from 10ft away) but is zero maintanence and comes in various dimensional lumber lengths. You’d have to do a quick search for it but there’s not too many synth teak marine products selling what basically amounts to plastic lumber. I have I find them again as well as I plan to have a new pulpit platform made from it or make it myself if the price doesn’t agree with me.

[Zach]

Is the boat gel coated or painted at the moment?

Doing that amount of glass work on a gel coated boat, normally makes it a painted boat by the time things are done. Not an impossible job, but it will be an incredible amount of work. If you use epoxy, you will be painting.

If you are gelcoated, think long and hard about developing a cover board or rub rail that covers the hull to deck joint and doesn't require refairing both the hull and deck, and regelcoating the area... Not that you can't get a good match, just that trimming over things goes much faster than blocking and buffing gel coat.

If you do go glassing in everything, don't start with epoxy as it takes a million times longer to get the job done. Lay up today, sand tomorrow. Putty tomorrow, sand the next day.

If you want to build moldings and replace wood, Coosa board works fairly well for that. You can also make some small molds for stuff like stanchion bases and knees for your bulwarks rather than building stuff in place. I would start with that, and get good at fairing by building the plugs to do what you want, then pulling the molds off them and making some parts.

If you are new to glass work, the first work you do on the boat will be re-done by the time you get to the other side as your eye will start picking up on the defects and lack of fairness, etc... Project spirals happen because as your skills improve you can reach a higher grade of finish.

Cheers,

Zach

[Terra Nova]

If the boat has extruded aluminum toe rails, they are a structural part of the hull/deck joint and cannot simply be eliminated without re-engineering that interface.

[robwilk37]

did this last year on my project. minimal toe rail was part of the deck mold so stacked epoxy soaked MDO strips to raise it to 5", then glassed from 6" inside the deck up/over/down to about 6" past the hul/deck joint. amply scuppered. 5 layers of 17oz biax in epoxy. doing the same on the interior now as the rigs finally been sorted. strong, waterproof and zero maintenance ( but a ton of work). covered the whole works with an apatong rubrail.

[hellosailor]

I'd suggest going to aluminum toerails instead of building a new bulwark. Much less hand fitting and labor, neatly finished result. If you must have bulwarks, you can get G10(?) structural fiberglass panels from McMaster, Grainger, other sources and fabricate new bulwarks in sections. Then have fun joining and attaching them.

With stanchions either you build robust conventional ones, or there's a very nice option that requires a good deal more work, but since you're remaking the deck joint anyway...the stanchions get dropped into "sleeves" that are installed below deck level, inside the hull. The sleeves are structural and water-tight, with a drain to the exterior, a small drain hole to the outside of the hull. That allows then to have much less stress on the base, and no path to leak through the deck. If you want something better and have the time to do it, as long as you're glassing the entire perimeter anyway.

[robwilk37]

the debate i had was "do you want just a toerail or a large solid proper bulwark?" depends on your usage i guess. i opted for the latter so when the boat is on its ear and ive got to go forward in the night, ive lot a bit more for the seaboot to land on. and ive yet to see an extrusion, no matter how well installed, that didnt develop leaks at the fasteners over time. im a fan of g10, but not for this application. better i think to build up your own core inexpensively then wrap in biax. no seems to feather at least...
my .02

[Cheechako]

We have no idea what the current situation is. Is the teak a raised toerail bulwark at all? A full bulwark with many drain holes will likely retain water just as well as what you have. For security and safety maybe just a bulwark out of G10 or something that leaves a gap under it so it drains real well when you take a wave?

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

...the stanchions get dropped into "sleeves" that are installed below deck level, inside the hull. The sleeves are structural and water-tight, with a drain to the exterior, a small drain hole to the outside of the hull...

Uh...no.

[sailingunity]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

I'd suggest going to aluminum toerails instead of building a new bulwark. Much less hand fitting and labor, neatly finished result. If you must have bulwarks, you can get G10(?) structural fiberglass panels from McMaster, Grainger, other sources and fabricate new bulwarks in sections. Then have fun joining and attaching them.

With stanchions either you build robust conventional ones, or there's a very nice option that requires a good deal more work, but since you're remaking the deck joint anyway...the stanchions get dropped into "sleeves" that are installed below deck level, inside the hull. The sleeves are structural and water-tight, with a drain to the exterior, a small drain hole to the outside of the hull. That allows then to have much less stress on the base, and no path to leak through the deck. If you want something better and have the time to do it, as long as you're glassing the entire perimeter anyway.

We have fiberglass bulwarks the length of our boat, and I'm so jealous of the folks that have alumnium, you can clip anything to it anywhere along the length of the boat. Dinghy, fenders, pulleys.. so flexible.